


when you're away

by dupergal



Category: THE iDOLM@STER, The iDOLM@STER Sidem
Genre: Anime: The iDOLM@STER SideM, Beit Family, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, M/M, Separations, SideMvalentine2020, angst as in minori is slightly insecure about kyoji missing him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22701961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dupergal/pseuds/dupergal
Summary: When Kyoji and the other members of the WORLD TRE@SURE Japan unit go away for their live, Minori quickly finds himself missing Kyoji, and wonders if the other man missed him, too. (Written for SideM Valentine's Exchange 2020)
Relationships: Takajou Kyouji/Watanabe Minori
Comments: 8
Kudos: 7





	when you're away

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift for @beitfamily on twitter for the SideM Valentine 2020 exchange!  
> .  
> ah my first kyomino fic! they're so lovely, i really love this pairing a lot, especially when combined with the beit found-family dynamic! while i was writing it, this fic got away from me a little and became a lot more minori centric, but i'm still really happy with how it turned out ^_^ 
> 
> this fic was also beta'd by my good friend Em, thank u for helping me out always ily <3

He missed Kyoji.

Minori rolls himself over onto his stomach, frowning slightly at his phone. The office is quiet at this time of morning; he’d arrived much earlier than usual to make sure he saw the participants of the final leg of their “WORLD TRE@SURE” series off properly for their trip. And by participants, he mostly meant Kyoji, of course.

Minori had fussed over him for the last few days, constantly checking and double-checking that he had everything he needed. Minori had held up a neck pillow, pastel pink with soft white flowers as he dug through his own supplies from his trip to China. 

“Kyoji, do you have one of these? They’re _sooo_ nice to have, especially on long trips! It would be terrible if you got there and you had a kinked neck!” 

Kyoji had sighed and rubbed the back of his head, mussing up his already disheveled hair. “Minori-san, you remember the flight’s only about an hour and a half, right? We’re not even going that far. I doubt I need a pillow…” He trailed off as he watched Minori shove it into his backpack anyway.

Minori sighs at the memory and taps open his photos app, looking at the burst of photos he’d taken from this morning alone. Kyoji’s struggling smile contrasted perfectly against Shiki’s beaming grin, with Sora and Seiji standing with their luggage behind them. It’d only been an hour since the four idols and Producer had left for the airport! Kyoji was going to be gone for a week, what was he going to do?! 

From the other couch, Minori hears a small yawn. Glancing over, he watches Pierre sit up and stretch an arm over his head, clinging onto Kaerre with the other. He smiles sleepily and yawns again. “Minori, morning!”

“Ah, good morning Pierre, did you have a nice nap?” Minori moves over to the other couch, sitting close enough that Pierre can rest his head on his shoulder. Despite the early start, Pierre insisted on seeing Kyoji off as well. “He said bye to me! So I want to say bye to him!” He’d declared while hugging Kyoji around the waist. Minori had about 30 pictures on his phone of that moment _alone._ Pierre and Kyoji were so cute together!

Pierre nods and rubs his eyes; Minori half worries he’s ready to slip off into sleep again. “Minori,” he says sleepily. “I miss Kyoji.”

Minori smiles, soft and sad. He begins slowly stroking Pierre’s hair and feels the boy relax a bit more beside him. “I miss him too. Isn’t it silly, it hasn’t even been that long!”

“But that just shows how much we love him!” Minori continues. “Even if it’s a little sad, it’s kind of a nice feeling to miss the people you love, and to feel missed in return!”

As he speaks, an image is conjured in his mind, one from his departure to China for his own World Treasure leg. He’d been in a big hurry the few days before, tired between rehearsals and studying just enough Mandarin to get by. Kyoji had patiently helped him pack, frowning just often enough through the process to stop Minori’s suitcase from going far over the weight limit. Minori had, of course, also woken up late the day he was to leave, so he’d only had time to give Pierre a hug and Kyoji a quick kiss before he headed out to the airport.

And maybe it was because Minori had been texting him every free moment he could while he was away, but it never seemed as though Kyoji had missed _him_ , Minori suddenly realized. There was no grand reunion once he had returned, no big bouquet or tears; just a kiss and one of Kyoji’s rare, genuine smiles before they had settled into the couch, Pierre between them. 

Minori swallows past the small lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.

“Hey, Pierre?” he says quietly, his hand stilling on Pierre’s head.

The boy blinks up at him, eyes still drooping ever so slightly from sleep. “Minori? Your eyes are sad.”

He snuggles Pierre closer to himself. “I was just wondering, when I went away to China... Kyoji…” He lets out a sigh. Here he was, a 31 year old man, asking this boy nearly half his age for reassurance. How embarrassing. “D-did he miss me at all? It sounds silly, but he acted just like himself when I got back, and it didn’t bother me at the time but…” he trails off as he feels his face starting to get warm.

Pierre’s eyes widen as if Minori has said something blasphemous and he sits up quickly, Kaerre now lounging in his lap. Pierre looks at Minori with one of the most serious expressions he thinks he’s ever seen the boy make. It’s the same look he gets when he’s trying to nail down a particularly complicated dance move or when he’s watching Minori sew a new outfit for Kaerre. 

“Kyoji missed Minori lots!” Pierre shouts. Minori flinches, shocked at Pierre’s conviction. “He was sad when Minori was gone, and that made me and Kaerre sad too!” He holds Kaerre out to Minori to prove his point. It’s strange, the little plushie _does_ almost look sad.

Pierre pouts. “He said that practice wasn’t the same without Minori, that eating dinner wasn’t the same without Minori, that being at home wasn’t the same without Minori. He was so happy when Minori came back!” 

Minori can feel the tears prickling in the corners of his eyes as Pierre speaks; his heart rate has skyrocketed, and his imagination is going wild thinking of Kyoji _actively missing him_. He can see him sitting quietly at the dinner table, trying to listen to Pierre’s animated talking but finds his eyes slipping to Minori’s empty spot; can see him glance behind him after nailing a move in practice, looking for Minori’s approving smile and pat on the head, frowning when he receives neither. The Kyoji in Minori’s imagination is incredibly endearing, and Minori has to cover his heart with his hand lest it explode in his chest.

“Pierre!” Minori cries, flinging himself at the boy and pulling him into a tight hug. “You’ve made my heart so warm, you know that? Thank you~!”

Pierre grins and hugs him just as tightly. “Yay! Minori is happy?!” It’s both a question and a statement, as if Pierre couldn’t quite decide what he wanted to say.

_So cute_ , Minori thinks, before he smiles warmly and says, “Yes, Minori is _very_ happy!” 

They were still going to miss Kyoji while he was gone, and Minori knew that. But having Pierre with him, and having the knowledge that Kyoji missed him just as much, Minori felt like things were going to be better.

*

Kyoji and the rest of the World Treasure Japan unit returns to the 315 Productions office a week later to much fanfare; it was the last leg of this two-year project, after all, and there was much celebrating to be done. 

And of course, Minori being who he is, jumps on Kyoji the _instant_ his foot hits the tile of the office, smothering him in the biggest hug and planting a big kiss on his cheek before Kyoji can even begin to protest.

“Minori-san…” Kyoji blushes furiously, pink brushing the tips of his ears ( _so cute!_ ) “You’re embarrassing me…”

Minori snuggles his face into Kyoji’s neck. “I can’t help it, I missed you _soooo_ much Kyoji! You were gone for so long I could hardly stand it!!”

Kyoji’s not looking at him but Minori can tell he looks pleased to be greeted with such love. Minori grins, pulling himself out of his grip on Kyoji to cup his warm cheeks in his hands. Kyoji’s eyes flit back to meet his. Minori’s grin morphs into a soft, loving smile.

“Welcome home, Kyoji,” he whispers, leaning in to gently kiss Kyoji properly. 

Kyoji relaxes and kisses him back, quickly, chastely, before looking away again in embarrassment. “I’m home, Minori,” he mumbles.

“Kyoji!” A bright voice calls out, and they separate themselves enough to see Pierre bounding towards them. He leaps and Kyoji and Minori just barely manage to catch him. “Welcome home!” 

Kyoji smiles that adorable smile that he reserves especially for Pierre, and Minori is falling in love all over again. “I’m back, Pierre. I hope you didn’t miss me too much.”

Minori holds his two loves close to him as Pierre and Kyoji speak. He’s so thankful to have his family back, to be able to even _have_ this found-family in the first place. Who would’ve guessed that this is how his life would turn out?  
  


“Ah, I almost forgot!” he says, holding up his phone with a sparkle in his eye. “Yamamura-san showed me the outfits for the live, and I’m going to need some pics!” Minori winks mischievously at Kyoji, who grimaces. “What? You had to know this was going to happen! This is important for my collection, Kyoji!”

Kyoji rolls his eyes but doesn’t protest too much more, probably knowing there’s not much he can do once Minori sets his mind to something; Minori will still take it as a win. 

But for now, he’s going to relish in the feeling of being together again. The pictures can wait; he’s finally able to stop missing Kyoji.

**Author's Note:**

> [pls come yell at me on twitter about sidem](https://twitter.com/dupergal)


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